I have included a separate module of the dictionary called ‘Noise’ (in the information-theoretic sense of meaningless data that can be confused with a true signal). The reason for this is that the search process that results in valid cognate sets inevitably turns up other material that is superficially appealing, but is questionable for various reasons. To simply dispose of this ‘information refuse’ would be unwise for two reasons. First, further searching might show that some of these questionable comparisons are more strongly supported than it initially appeared. Second, even if the material is not upgraded through further comparative work it is always possible that some future researcher with different standards of evaluation will stumble upon some of these comparisons and claim that they are valid, but were overlooked in the ACD. By including a module on ‘Noise’ I can show that I have considered and rejected various possibilities that might be entertained by others.

suffix added to the transitive termination of verbs to make a past participle passive, and so a passive form of the verb

Fijian

ca-

passive prefix

The suffixed *-a in Oceanic languages probably is identical to *-a '3sg. object'. The prefixed a- in Malagasy and Fijian is assumed to have no historical connection, either between these two languages, or with any of the suffixes cited here.

element used to introduce consecutive senses, the connection of words in addition and comparison (the introduction of the second part of a comparison); and

The three Formosan forms almost certainly are cognate, and may point to PAn *Na. However, uncertainty concerning a possible Rukai-Tsouic subgroup, and the unknown history of borrowing between Rukai and Tsouic make such a reconstruction premature. In any case, the similarity of the South Sulawesi words to these is probably best treated as a product of convergence.

anew: begin anew

WMP

Sundanese

babakan

new settlement on previously uninhabited land; colony

Javanese

bamban

begin anew

CMP

Ngadha

vava

process of making a new start

anger

WMP

Malay

béraŋ

rising anger, fury, passion

Formosan

Amis

firaŋ

anger

animal trap

WMP

Ifugaw (Batad)

attib

set a rat or mouse trap; catch a rat or mouse in a trap

Simalungun Batak

atip-atip

animal trap

animal: venomous animal

WMP

Casiguran Dumagat

ipel

poisonous snake (small and greenish)

Miri

n-ifal

centipede

ant

WMP

Aklanon

bitík

flea (as on dogs)

Hiligaynon

bitík

flea, tick

Ngaju Dayak

bitik

ant (collective term for all varieties)

Malagasy

vitsika

ants, emmets. Fig. many, numerous, as ants

Chance. The Ngaju Dayak and Malagasy terms reflect a Proto-Barito innovation; those in Bisayan languages reflect *bitik 'spring up suddenly'.

Potentially a reflex of *sabak, but the limited distribution suggests that this is a product of chance.

(Dempwolff: *liŋa ‘hand, arm’)

arm: hand arm

WMP

Ngaju Dayak

leŋæ

hand, arm

OC

Fijian

liŋa

forearm and hand, forelegs of an animal

Chance. This is yet another example of the many forced comparisons in Dempwolff (1938). The Ngaju Dayak form clearly reflects PMP *leŋen ‘forearm, lower arm’. The loss of
word-final -n in obligatorily possessed nouns has led to reanalysis in other languages of Borneo, as in Uma Juman Kayan, where the reflex of PMP *ipen ‘tooth’ in constructions such as ipen-naɁ ‘his/her tooth’ has be reinterpreted as ipeɁ-naɁ ‘his/her tooth’ (with obligatory morpheme-final glottal stop). The Fijian word is most likely a reflex of POc *lima ‘hand’, with a sporadic replacement of *m by its labiovelar equivalent, as with Motalimwa ‘hand; five’. Dempwolff ignored the irregularity in the vowel correspondences of both syllables, and proposed Uraustronesisch *liŋa ‘hand, arm’ despite the availability of far better-supported words for this meaning.

Dempwolff (1938) used this comparison to propose *puhun ‘to ask permission’. However, I am unable to find the Tagalog form in any dictionary available to me, or in any other Philippine language, and the Malagasy word, if cognate, may be a Malay loan.

(Dempwolff: *si(dD)aŋ ‘steep, precipitous’)

aslant, steep, precipitous

WMP

Ngaju Dayak

sidaŋ ~ siraŋ

oblique, slanting (as something that was cut at an oblique angle)

Malagasy

sírana

sloping

Dempwolff (1938) proposed *si(dD)aŋ ‘steep, precipitous’, but this comparison appears to be confined to Ngaju Dayak and Malagasy. It is thus best treated as ‘noise’ not on grounds of false cognation, but rather on the grounds that it cannot be reconstructed for a proto-language of any considerable time-depth.